Crowdfunding Helping Holiday Giving Around Bay Area

posted Jun 7, 2014, 5:10 AM by Siamak Ebarhimi

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SAN FRANCISCO (KPIX 5) — You may want to do some holiday
giving this year to support a local food bank, or a global charity. Or
maybe you’re inspired to help a single individual fighting cancer, or an
Entrepreneur trying to get an idea off the ground. All is possible with
crowdfunding.crowdfunding marketing

Silicon Valley venture capitalist Bill Draper took his wife’s story
public in the name of raising money to fight the disease that plagues
her.

“My wife has Parkinson’s and has for some 35 years,” he explained.

Draper planned to donate to the Parkinson’s Institute and Clinical
Center, headquartered in Sunnyvale. But he realized he could do even
more.crowdfunding advertising

“I said, ‘Look, come on, let’s get together with Parkinson’s
Institute, let’s do crowdsourcing, and I’ll put up $100,000 and suggest
that it be matched up to that amount by as many people as want to
participate,’” he remembered.kickstarter marketing

So Draper launched a crowdfunding campaign on San Francisco-based
indiegogo, an online platform that collects and distributes
contributions for almost any cause.

“Crowdfunding intrigues us. It’s been very exciting,” said
Parkinson’s Institute Director of Development Chelsea E. M. Kasai. “We
are so grateful to Bill Draper and the Draper family for sharing their
personal Parkinson’s disease journey. They’re helping to inspire other
families to find their own voice, to share their stories, and to raise
funds.”

There are crowdfunding sites that cater to small businesses,
authors trying to publish, scientists funding research, athletes,
musicians… any cause you can imagine. Indiegogo is the world’s largest
crowdfunding platform.indiegogo marketing

The company’s Director of Cause, Community, and Social Innovation Amy Lesnick says it supports campaigns to raise as little as $100 for dental work to $10,000,000 for a new tech gadget.

“The beauty of crowdfunding is you’re really rallying people around
something to make it happen,” Lesnick said. “Crowdfunding is empowering.
It’s social, it’s fun, it’s giving people the chance to feel that pride
of participating.”